Ornamental casted units can be manufactured with a hydraulic press. A known type of ornamental casted concrete unit includes a base layer of coarser material and a surface layer of finer, decorative material. A typical molding process for these two-layer units consists of a first feed box distributing a base mix of coarse concrete into a mold, which is then lightly pressed and/or vibrated so that the top of the compacted or compressed concrete is lower than the top of the mold. This compression and/or vibration also creates a smooth surface on top of the base mix. Soon after this compaction/compression, a face mix of finer concrete is added on top of the compacted base mix using a second, separate feed box travelling from the opposed side of the fabrication machine. The combined mixes are compressed and/or vibrated yet again. A linear junction is thus formed between the two mixes of concrete, which is susceptible to delamination.
Furthermore, the application of a second cycle of compression and/or vibration after the face mix of finer concrete is added increases the duration of the molding cycle, thereby reducing the number of production runs that can be performed in a given period.